O’REILLY: David Starr overheats after damage in first-lap tangle at Talladega
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Steven Taranto, @STaranto92
David Starr picked up the 6th last-place finish of his NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series career in Saturday’s Ag-Pro 300 at the Talladega Superspeedway when his #42 Breakthrough T1D Chevrolet fell out with overheating issues after 14 of 113 laps.
The finish, which came in Starr’s 271st series start, was his first of the season and first in an O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race since October 2, 2021, when he also finished last at Talladega, 148 races ago. In the O’Reilly Series standings, it was the 9th for the #42, the 39th from overheating, and the 467th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 44th for the #42, the 184th from overheating, and the 2,038th for Chevrolet.
When Starr scored his most recent last-place finish in this series, he was closing out the 2021 season with Carl Long’s Motorsports Business Management team, a year that saw him score the LASTCAR XFINITY Series Championship with three total last-place finishes. The next year, he ran a similar part-time schedule for SS-Green Light Racing, for whom he’s run most of his starts since then, along with Joey Gase Racing with Scott Osteen. He’s also run two more Cup starts – both for Long – which each resulted in a DNF: a last-place run at Martinsville in 2024, then a 29th-place showing at Atlanta last summer.
This season, Starr attempted to begin his 2026 at the season opener in Daytona, but failed to qualify the #53 entry for the Gase team – a car number the two-car team hasn’t fielded since that day. He didn’t enter the following round in Atlanta, and would instead return Saturday for the following superspeedway event in Talladega. This time, he’d make his first series start for team owner Randy Young, piloting the #42 Chevrolet alongside full-time teammate Ryan Ellis in the #02. The #42 has run without a primary sponsor in several races this year, but Saturday would be different: Starr carried sponsorship from Breakthrough T1D, a non-profit seeking a cure to Type 1 diabetes, plus SHAR and CLARK on the quarter panels. Apex Wireless, his backer from Daytona, sponsored the TV panel.
With no practice, Starr’s was the 15th car on track for single-car qualifying, where he earned the 20th starting spot with a speed of 52.939 seconds (180.887mph).
There were exactly 38 drivers entered for as many starting spots, so no one was sent home. Securing that 38th spot was Dawson Cram, who ran the same #74 Chevrolet that Carson Ware drove at Talladega last fall, but this time with its Costa Oil decals replaced by Birmingham-based Jack’s Family Restaurants. He was joined at the tail end by 21st-place starter Ryan Ellis, Starr’s teammate, for unapproved adjustments on his #02 Zeroes Chevrolet. Also dropping to the back voluntarily were the two Gase cars of 29th-place Joey Gase in the #55 SunFire Heaters Chevrolet and 37th-place Natalie Decker in the #35 T.N. Dickinson’s Witch Hazel Chevrolet.
When the green flag dropped, Cram had already moved up to 35th, 2.987 seconds back of the lead ahead of 36th-place Decker (3.104), 37th-place Ellis (3.195), and the now 38th-place Gase (3.484). The broadcast showed Gase’s back car last on the inside line, then past the stripe moved to the high lane to clear Ellis and draft with Decker.
Suddenly, as the field came up to speed down the backstretch, 16th-place starter William Sawalich in the #18 Starkey Toyota got in the back of 14th-place starter Patrick Staropoli in the #48 Syfovre Chevrolet, causing Staropoli to hook to the right from the outside line and slam into the wall with the right-front. The impact sent Staropoli back into the outside line – directly into the path of Starr. Starr slowed, but couldn’t quite clear Staropoli as he slid past, striking his left-rear with the left-front of his #42. An instant later, Starr was struck in the left-rear by Tyler Ankrum, making his series debut in the #32 LiUNA! / TDA Investment Group Chevrolet. Somehow, these were the only three drivers involved, and all three made it to pit road under caution.
Staropoli had already taken the last spot as he shut off the engine on pit road, allowing his crew to make repairs to his right-front and left-rear. He returned to the track with just 90 seconds left on his “Crash Clock,” putting him two laps down. By then, Ankrum and Starr had returned to the track with Ankrum now 37th, one lap down, and Starr still on the lead lap despite repairs to both the nose and left-rear of his #42. On Lap 4, Staropoli was briefly credited with the fastest lap yet completed in the race despite much of his right-front fender missing. This had changed hands by Lap 6, when the field caught him and put him a third lap down.
On Lap 14, Starr pulled behind the wall for additional repairs, but didn’t return to the race, ultimately citing overheating issues. By Lap 18, he’d taken the last spot from Staropoli, who limped along for the rest of the afternoon, losing eight total laps on pace for a 37th-place finish. Ellis lost two laps and took 36th while 35th-place Josh Williams, who qualified 4th in the #92 First Bank of Alabama Chevrolet, and Cram in the #74 both lost a lap to take 35th and 34th, respectively. Starr was the only DNF on Saturday until the final ap of the race, when Sam Mayer spun out of the lead, followed by a separate multi-car accident that eliminated Jeb Burton and Harrison Burton. Those three drivers ranked 25th, 26th, and 27th.
Green and Yeley earn season-best finishes at Talladega
On the day that saw Corey Day score his first series victory, Austin Green earned his best run of the season with a 10th-place finish after also leading five laps under green. These were the first laps Green led in his brief career, and his first top-ten finish since his runner-up performance last fall on the Charlotte “Roval.” One spot behind in 11th came J.J. Yeley, who with his run on Saturday participated in his 398st series start versus his 397 career Cup Series starts, both dating back to 2004. Driving the only Ford in the field, Yeley also led laps – two – in Hettinger Racing’s #5 Jobber Ford, and earned his best series finish since a 9th at Daytona on August 26, 2022.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
38) #42-David Starr / 14 laps / overheating
37) #48-Patrick Staropoli / 105 laps / running
36) #02-Ryan Ellis / 111 laps / running
35) #92-Josh Williams / 112 laps / running
34) #74-Dawson Cram / 112 laps / running
2026 LASTCAR O’REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) DGM Racing x JIM, Young’s Motorsports (2)
2nd) AM Racing, Haas Factory Team, Hettinger Racing, Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen, JR Motorsports, RSS Racing, SS-Green Light Racing (1)
2026 LASTCAR O’REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (8)
2nd) Ford (3)
2026 LASTCAR O’REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
